Trim panel and method of making same



Feb. 7, 1933. B. c. PLACE TRIM PANEL AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed May 29, 1931 .1& 15 15 .16 1/ Jwuankow 3/027 63 P/ace Patented Feb. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BION 0. PLACE, DET BOIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE E. GAGNIER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN TBII PANEL AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Application filed May as, 1931. Serial No. $41,002:.

This invention relates to an improved trim panel and a method of making the same. The improved trim panel of the present invention is intended particularly for use in finishing the interior of automobile or similar bodies, though they may be put to other analogous uses.

Automobile or similar trim panels generally include a relatively stiff foundation, frequently constructed of cardboard, and a fabric covering for the exposed face of the cardboard, which covering is lapped around the edges of the foundation to conceal the same. In many installations a substantial layer of wadding of substantial thickness is, disposed between the foundation and the fabric covering to give the panel a thickness and yieldability consistent with the finish of the other pogtions of the interior of the automobile bo I31 ornamenting panels of the kind described, it has heretofore been proposed to apply a narrow molding, termed a riser, to the foundation and to stitch the fabric coveringto the foundation along the edges of the riser so that the outline of the riser was made to stand out prominentl by the stitching and by virtue of the fact tliat the fabric covering was drawn taut over the riser by the stitching. In such constructions it has been the practice to apply the riser to the foundation and attach it thereto by means of pasting, tacking or stapling, after which pieces of wadding, cut to fit inside of the riser as well as outside thereof, were pasted to the foundation both inside and outside of the riser. In many installations the riser was applied to the fiber foundation by fastening, means that penetrated the foundation and thus weakened it at the'point of application to the riser. Subsequently, when the fabric was stitched to the foundation around the riser such stitching further weakened the anels at points at which it had previously 11' weakened by the attaching of the riser. It has, accordingly, become a common practice in the art to apply a strip of reinforcing fabric to the rear of the foundation at the point at which the riser is to be applied, so that the fiber foundation would not be seriously weakened by the subsequent application of the riser and by the subsequent stitching of the fabric to the foundation around both edges of the riser.

Such reinforcing fabric, in accordance with the common practice, consists in bands of drill, duck, imitation leather or whatever fabric might be available. The reinforcing strips are generally pasted to the rear face of the foundation. Obviously, thecutting and pasting of the strips to the rear of the foundation, as widely practiced, is laborious and time consuming, and adds materially to the cost of production of trim panels.

It has also been heretofore proposed in order to avoid the attachment of separate risers to the foundation of the panel to simply emboss a corrugation in the foundation or body, which corrugation was relied upon to serve the purpose of the applied riser in the construction previously described. The wadding in such arrangements is cut to fit within and without the corrugation which paralleled generally the edges of the panels.

such arrangement the fabric covering of the panel was stitched to the body parallel to theedges of the corru ation formed therein. This construction, wh' e it avoided the use of separately applied risers, likewise resulted in a weakened panel resulting from the formation of the corrugation and the stitchingof so the fabric directl to the foundation on hnes parallel to the edges of the corrugation. In addition, the material disadvantage of the construction 'ust described is that like that first descri the wadding had to be fitted within and without the corrugations that take the place of the riser. Such practice, in addition to consumin much time, involves a substantial waste of e wadding s it conform to the outline of the corruga riser, which uently assumed an ornamental configuration.

This invention aims'to rovide an improved trim panel and me 0d of m the same that does not involve the fitti o wadding both inside and outside of a riser,

,and that results in a construction that is not I weakened by the application of the riser and the stitching of the fabric to the foundation to suchan extent as to require the application of reinforcements to a back face of the foundation.

This invention also aims to provide an improved trim panel and method of making the same in which use is made of the wadding to reinforce the panel at the point thereof that otherwise would be seriously weakened by the securing thereto of the riser.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved trim panel in which a riser is included to enhance the ornamental characteristic of the panel and in which the wadding is applied as a single piece rather than in sections fitting inside and out of the riser.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved trim panel, embodying wadding or the like that is associated with the foundation of the panel in such manner that the portions of the wadding adjacent the edges of the panel are integrally attached to the portions that are remote from said edges, whereby the wadding adjacent the edges may be left unsecured to the foundation in order that fasteners may subsequently be freely inserted from the rear of the panel after the covering has been applied to the front face thereof, and so that the heads of the fasteners may be concealed by being embedded in the readily compressible wadding forming'a part of the trim panel.

Still further objects of the invention will appear as a description thereof proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fi ure 1 is a front face view of a trim pane constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a rear face view of said panel.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on the plane indicated by the line 3-3 in Figure 1.

Fi ure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 showing the manner in which a snap fastener may be associated with the panel of the present invention after the panel has been completely manufactured.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the'plane indicated by the line 5'5 in Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view ofthe rear of a trim panel on a scale enlarged from that of Figure 2. x

Like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures.

The improved trim panel of the present invention consists of a foundation 10, cut to the proper size and outline to cover the surface to which the panel is to be applied. The foundation is generally made of a relatively stiff cardboard or similar fibrous material. In the drawing, a trim panel for an automobile door is il ustrated, but it will be understood that such a door panel is selected merely for purposes of illustration and that the foundation or body 10 may be of any other form in accordance with the outline of the surface to which the panel is to be applied.

The foundation or body 10 is generally covered with a suitable fabric giving to the completed panel a neat and attractive appearance. Such fabric may be plush, velour, mo hair, velvet, etc. In the drawing, the fabric finish covering for the panel is designated by-the numeral 11, and it will be observed that the edges thereof are lapped around the otherwise exposed edges of the foundation or body 10 and said lapped edges extend tothe rear face of said foundation as" indicated at 12. Before the edges of the fabric 11 are attached to the foundation, however, it is preferred to space said fabric from the foundation or body 10 by means of wadding 13, which may be jute or cotton padding or any other suitable material.

When the improved panel is constructed in accordance with the present invention, the

wadding 13 is cut so that it is substantially oo-extensive in all directions with the foundation or body of the panel to which it is to be applied, so that at every point of the panel a unitary layer of wadding is disposed between the fabric covering and the foundation or body. The wadding 13 is secured to the foundation 10,,prior to the application of the fabric covering 11, by pasting the central portion thereof to the foundation or body, as indicated at 14 in Figure 3. The edges of the wadding around the periphery of the foundation or body 10 are maintained free of attachment to the body for a purpose hereinafter more fully described.

It is desirable to enhance the appearance of the panel and to cause the panel to assume a form varying from complete flatness, and this invention contemplates the addition of a user consisting of a strip of suitable material similar to a molding strip. Twisted kraft paper constitutes suitable material for the riser. As shown on the drawing a half round riser 15 is applied prior to the application of the fabric covering to the panel, the riser being disposed on top of the wadding 13. By this arrangement a unitary piece ofwadding can be used to provide the desired thickness of the panel and the riser may assume any ornamental outline without requlring, as a consequence, that the wadding be cut to conform to such ornamental i fasteners can subsequently staples may be clenched against the rear or unexposed surface of the foundation and embedded therein. The attachment of the riser to the foundation through the wadding serves, of course, to firmly attach the edges of the wadding to the foundation at points relatively close to the edges of the panel, since as a general rule the risers are applied to the panel so as to approximately parallel said-edges.

Having assembled the foundation 10, the wadding 13 and the riser 15 as just described, the panel is completed by applying thereto the fabric covering 11. In order that the riser 15 may be plainly visible through the fabric covering, said covering is stitched to the foundation or body 10 by two rows of stitches l8 and 19, made relatively close to the edges of the riser 15, so that the fabric is drawn relatively snugly over the elevation or hump caused by the riser. Since the lines of stitches 18 and 19 penetrate the fabric, the wadding and the foundation or body, serving to secure these superposed elements together so as to form a substantially unitary structure, it will be understood that the wadding '13 serves to assist in maintaining the body 10, which is made of fiber board as above stated, from breaking along the lines of the stitches, j ust as said wadding likewise assists in preventing serious weakening of the panel due to the penetration of the foundation or body by staples 16 in attaching the riser thereto.

stitched to the foundation or body as indicated at 20. The lapping of the edges of the fabric 11 around the unsecured edges of the wadding 13 serves to firmly secure said wadding in place, especially in view of the fact that such unpasted portions of the wadding are likewise fixedly held in position by the riser and fabric that is attached to the foundation'therethrough by. means penetrat ing the wadding.

It is preferred to maintain such wadding free of attachment to the foundation or body by pasting adjacent the ed in order that the rear or uncovered face of the panel through specially formed openings 21, that are formed at regularly aoed intervals parallel to the edges of the oundation or body,

p rior to the application thereto of either the wadding, riser or'fabric covering. Preferably such openingsarefformed so as to permit the pasage of a headed spring fastener through the foundation or body after the inserted from portion 22, and a circular enlargement 24 as illustrated. The head of the headed spring fastener is entered into the widened slot 22 to bring said head between the wadding 13 and the inside of the foundation. The fastener is then interlocked with respect to the panel by passing the shank through the neck 23 with its narrow dimensions disposed across said neck, and by then moving the shank into position in the portions 24, when the shank of the fastener is turned through an angle of 90,bringing the major dimension of said shank across said portion 24, whereby the fastener is immovably held in assembled relation to the panel with the shank thereof protruding through the portion 23 and away from the rear or normal unexposed face of the panel as illustrated in Figure 4.

In this figure, a fastener such as shown in my Patent, #1,679,266, granted July 31st, 1928, is shown, such fastener being formed by bending a single piece of relatively stiff wire to form a head 25 in the form of a loop, and to provide resilient holding elements 26 and 27 projecting away from said head in planes approximately normal to the head, and to provide con vergently disposed guiding portions 28 and 29 the fastener, consisting of the holding portions 26 and 27 and the guiding portions 28 and 29 to be entered into an aperture in a supporting structure and sprung therein in the manner fully described in the patent just referred to. As a final step in com leting the fOIIDfitlOIl The fastener just briefly described, and fully described in said patent referred to, is assembled through the openings 21 in the manner above briefly described, and more fully described in my Patent #1,722,944, granted July 30th, 1929. After the fastener has been inserted, as described in said patent, the head 25 thereof serves to compress the wadding 13, disposed between the fabric covering 11 and the covered face of the foundation or body 10,50 that no visible projections appear on the exposed surface of the panel caused by said heads of the fasteners,

one of which is inserted in each of the specially formed openings 21 provided at spaced :intervals around the periphery of the'panel.

It will be noted that by permitting the wadding to extend uninterruptedly beneath the riser and beneath the fabric at the points through which the fabric is stitched to the. foundation on lines parallel to, the edges of the riser, it is unnecesary to ap ly duck or similar fabric reinforcement to the rear face of the foundation atthe points, at which the securing means for the riser and the stitching penetrate said foundation and thus tend to weaken it. The unitary wadding serves to reinforce the completed panel at such points making it unnecesary to utilize such extraneous reinforcing means, as has generally heretofore been the practice.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms Without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrated and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

\Vhat is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. An automobile body or similar trim panel comprising a foundation, wadding substantially completely covering said foundation, a riser in ornamental or fanciful outline secured to said foundation through said wadding, and trim material covering said panel, said trim material being stitched through said wadding along the edges of said riser.

2. An automobile body or similar trim panel comprising a foundation, wadding substantially completely covering the foundation, a riser generally paralleling the edges of the foundation and secured thereto through said wadding, and finish material covering said Wadding and riser and lapping the exposed edges of said foundation, said finish material being stitched to said foundation through said wadding along the edges of said riser.

3. An automobile body or similar trim panel ready for the reception of fasteners after completion thereof, comprising a foun- "dation provided with fastener receiving openings, Wadding substantially completely covering said foundation and the openings therein, said Wadding being attached to said foundation at points remote from the edges but being free of attachment thereto adjacent said openings so that the fasteners may be freely inserted therein, a riser disposed on said wadding and secured to the foundation therethrough, and finish material covering said wadding and riser and secured to said foundation through said wadding by stitching paralleling the edges of said riser.

4. An automobile body or similar trim panel ready for the reception of fasteners after completion thereof, comprising a foundation provided with fastener receiving openings, Wadding substantlally completely covering said foundation and the openlngs therein, said wadding being attached to said foundation at points remote from the edges but being free of attachment thereto ad acent said openings 50 that the fasteners may be freely inserted therein, a riser disposed on said wadding and secured to the foundation therethrough, and finish material covering said wadding and riser and lapped around the exposed edges of the foundation and \vadding to the rear side of said foundation 

